The city of Portland spent almost $6.75 million resolving claims against the Portland Police Bureau since 2020, including over $3 million settling wrongful death claims.
While other city bureaus incurred bodily injury and property damage expenses in that time, they are few and far between when compared to PPB, revealing an overlooked cost of policing in the city. In the past few years, the city resolved 218 claims against PPB, including 89 bodily injury claims (including wrongful death), 108 property damage claims, and 21 claims involving both bodily injury and property damage.
The 2022-2023 Portland Police Bureau budget topped $249 million — a figure that doesn’t include settlement costs, which the city pays from a separate fund. The city retains almost all liability costs, spanning automobile, law enforcement and employment claims.
The city’s risk management office, tasked with reducing and minimizing liability costs to the city, handles settlements, including financing, claims administration and advising on loss prevention.
The vast majority of claims are under $5,000. In the past five years, claims with costs under $5,000 constitute 89% of all general liability claims and 83% of all automobile liability claims, according to the 2022-2023 requested city budget.
PPB activity during the 2020 racial justice protests introduced unprecedented legal troubles for PPB, spurring a bevy of lawsuits and, eventually, minor police reforms.
In the same requested budget, risk management noted ongoing litigation from 2020 protest claims are raising premiums and impacting coverage limits to the city.
“The City has faced significant exposure to, and increase of, protest-related claims and litigation, causing stress upon mainly the Law Enforcement Liability policy, with carryover into the main General Liability lines,” according to the proposed budget.
Bodily Injury Claims
The city paid out north of $5.9 million for bodily injury legal claims since January 2020, with more than half stemming from three incidents in which police killed someone.
In 2017, a PPB officer shot and killed Quanice Hayes, an unarmed Black 17-year-old whose family later filed a lawsuit. In 2021, the city settled, paying the Hayes family $1.5 million, plus over $785,000 in attorney’s fees, to settle the wrongful death lawsuit.
In September 2020, city officials approved a $975,000 settlement to the family of 31-year-old Lane Martin after a PPB officer fatally shot Martin while he experienced a mental health crisis in July 2019.
In 2021, the city approved a $600,000 settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit after PPB officer Samson Ajir shot and killed Terrell Johnson, 24, at a MAX station in Southeast Portland in 2017.
While fewer in number, bodily injury claims are more likely to be litigated. These cases are often more expensive, involving higher payouts, higher costs for city legal representation and payment for claimant legal fees. In one litigated bodily injury case, the city paid $400,000 to settle with a claimant who was injured while in police custody when the police vehicle transporting him to jail struck a telephone pole.
In another lawsuit settled in 2021, the city paid $250,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former PPB officer alleging another PPB officer, Robert Bruders, created a hostile work environment and sexually harassed the former officer.
In another settlement, the city paid $11,638.45 to a man who said he was injured when his parked vehicle was struck by a truck that swerved to avoid colliding with a PPB officer.
Two different people said police used excessive force at an Oct. 12, 2016 protest. The city paid $5,000 to one claimant who said PPB officers shoved her, causing injuries. The other claimant alleged excessive force and unlawful arrest during the protest, and the city ultimately paid $11,000 on the claim.
Property damage claims
Property damage claims are more frequent than bodily injury claims but generally cost the city less money. Since 2020, the city settled 108 property damage claims against PPB, together costing $368,690.63.
The claims span various situations, mainly involving PPB officers getting into car accidents while on duty. The city paid out just over $211,000 to resolve property damage claims involving police vehicles since 2020.
In one claim that cost the city nearly $26,000, the claimant alleged a PPB officer rear-ended her car. In another instance, a man alleged he was struck by a police car while driving through an intersection, and the city later paid $7,777.47 to settle the claim.
Numerous other legal claims racked up expenses for Portland police damaging civilian vehicles, such as one instance costing just over $6,100 in which a police vehicle struck and damaged a parked vehicle. The city paid just over $3,600 after another claimant said police struck their vehicle.
In other claims, the city footed the bill for damages incurred while forcibly entering a home. Costs of this nature totaled $5,551.61 for damages to doors and windows. In one such instance, the city paid $2,419.76 for property damages after a PPB officer allegedly broke down the claimant’s door to confront guests under surveillance. In a similar claim, the city paid $844.27 after officers broke down an unlocked door to arrest a suspect.
2020 protest claims
As Street Roots reported in April, policing 2020 racial justice protests led to unprecedented use of force and subsequent legal claims against PPB. As of March 23, the city already resolved 71 bodily injury claims linked to 2020 protests — with more in the pipeline — totaling more than $3 million. The figure includes both legal settlements and offers of judgment (payments resolving claims that aren’t technically settlements) in addition to legal fees incurred by the city itself.
Most claimants allege police used illegal force during protests. Many bodily injury claims revolve around crowd-control tactics causing injuries to lawful protesters, such as indiscriminately firing less-lethal munitions into crowds and unfettered use of tear gas.
In one instance, the city paid $50,001 to a claimant after PPB officers launched tear gas and shot rubber bullets at her. In another, the city paid $26,001 to a man who said a PPB officer shot and injured him with a beanbag projectile during the protest.
Other claims allege direct police violence, such as police pinning a protester to the ground and repeatedly punching them or police striking protesters with batons.
Legal claims oversight
Lawsuits are monitored and reviewed by the risk management division, city attorney’s office, City Council and relevant bureaus. Carrie Belding, Office of Management and Finance public information officer, said risk management monitors and reviews legal claims on a regular basis as part of the overarching effort to minimize legal costs to the city.
“Claims and lawsuits are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and researched thoroughly before any final actions are made and settlements completed,” Belding said.
Tina Jones, commander of PPB’s professional standards division, said her division can provide input to help shape policies in an effort to mitigate legal claims. Jones said she attends regular meetings with PPB’s policy and training division to share needed changes.
“If there are identified policy gaps, personnel from the professional standards division can provide feedback to the policy team, making them aware of any perceived gaps to consider when updating the policies,” Jones said.
According to Jones, PPB’s internal affairs division reviews all legal claims.
“The internal affairs division command staff and risk management team representatives have frequent meetings to check in about new tort (legal claims) cases and pending litigation,” Jones said.
If internal affairs identifies a possible policy violation, it opens an investigation to determine if disciplinary action is warranted, a decision then approved by the police chief, according to Jones.
“The City Attorney’s Office also provides training to the police bureau that incorporates lessons learned from cases that have been settled,” Belding said in an email. “The newly hired Civilian Dean of Training at the police bureau will provide additional opportunity to help incorporate lessons learned from cases that have been settled as well.”
Settlements are common
It isn’t unusual for civilians to file legal claims against police or other city agencies. Settlement claims filed against police officers cost taxpayers $1.5 billion, The Washington Post reported March 2022.
The National Police Funding Database, which tracks settlements and law enforcement funding, identified 217 publicly reported settlements that resulted in policy changes and over $2.3 trillion in monetary compensation to claimants in the United States as of June 21.
In addition to a spate of settlements that are both common and ongoing, Portland police have other high-cost cases still in litigation. The city faces two lawsuits resulting from PPB officers shooting and killing individuals experiencing mental health issues.
In April, a man filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and a police officer who shot and killed his father. Portland police officer Zachary DeLong, one of the named defendants, shot and killed Robert Delgado on April 16, 2021, in Lents Park. Police responded to a call following reports of a man brandishing a handgun. After police shot Delgado they found a replica handgun near his belongings.
The estate of Michael Ray Townsend filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city after police shot and killed Townsend. Police responded to a 911 call from Townsend, who reported he was experiencing suicidal ideations.
PPB has been beset by allegations of misconduct, violence and racist policing for nearly a century, including a 2012 U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against PPB stemming from use of force on people with mental illness. Legal negotiations dragged on for years, and were set to be finalized in 2019.
When protests ignited in 2020, the DOJ again found PPB out of compliance, this time for its methods of crowd control during protests and failures to document uses of force. The case is still ongoing.
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